Chapter 63

After spending so much time preparing to sit his Fourth Year exams Harry had kind of expected them to end with some kind of flourish or fanfare. In reality when he considered the amount of stress they'd caused him thought the year, they were pretty anti-climactic. They passed quickly, without too much fuss and before he knew it he was walking out of his final exam towards the Quidditch Pitch for a training session before the final match the following weekend, whilst the rest of the school were being rewarded with a Hogsmeade trip.

"So how did it go?" Ginny asked, walking into the Quidditch changing rooms and dumping her bag unceremoniously on the bench next to Harry. "Do you think you passed?"

"Well I've got to hope haven't I? Otherwise I'll be sharing a dormitory with Creevey next year and I just know he'll take pictures of me whilst I'm asleep." Harry said taking his school hat off and shoving it in the side pocket of his kit bag. After the first exam he'd accepted the fact that there was nothing he could do now to alter his results, he just hoped he'd done enough to prepare when he'd had the chance. "I wasn't nervous going in though, that's gotta be a good sign? I passed the Sixth Years waiting to go into their final exam coming out of mine and they seemed really nervous, Davies looked about ready to pass out."

"Well I'm sure we'll hear all about when it's finished, I don't think I could spend another week hearing Davies go through each of his exams question by question to see what Diggory and the Twins answered. It's almost enough to make me want to quit the team."

"Now Weasley, you'd never really quit the team would you?" Montague asked walking into the changing room and putting his bag down on a bench next to the door as he looked Ginny up and down appreciatively. "How would we get through practice without your… wit to raise morale?"

Ginny who had been wearing only her underwear when Montague walked in smirked playfully and flicked him the Vs. "My wit raises morale on the team? You could've fooled me, you fucking pervert."

Montague laughed and clapped a hand to his chest in mock hurt. "A pervert? Me? I'm just looking out for the team's best interests, if you want I can raise your morale- in the interest of fairness."

Ginny grinned. "Judging by you're flying yesterday I'm not the one who's morale needs to be raised, no wonder we're stuck with this dodgy half practice."

Montague winced. "That was shocking- I think it was stress over that last O.W.L exam I had this morning. At least they're over now, although it would have helped if they'd told us about the leeway before the exams y'know? That would have made things easier on us."

"Uh, leeway?" Harry asked, he'd mostly tuned out of Ginny and Montague's conversation. "You got leeway on your O. , like special consideration for the Tournament?"

"Yeah, we all did. Snape told me this morning after my exam. We get an extra ten percent to make up for the fact we've had to deal with all this too, I guess they didn't tell us so we wouldn't get complacent- still, it would have been nice to know about it." Montague said. "Hasn't McGonagall mentioned anything to you?"

"Not a thing." Harry said. "Is it something they just decided or was it planned from the start?"

Montague shrugged and pulled on his boots. "I dunno, it didn't sound like something they'd just planned, they probably decided it at the start when they decided we wouldn't get to skip exams like the three Triwizard Champions would have got to." He looked up from tying his boots and caught sight of the look on Harry's face. "Look, I get it's a Harry Potter thing to have a big fall out with someone every couple of weeks and everyone just leaves you to it, but you know you can't just fall out with your Head of Year right? She'd completely destroy you if you even tried to have a go."

He considered this. Whilst Montague was wrong about who Harry was annoyed at, he was hardly going to pick a fight with McGonagall when his own uncle had told Montague about it first, despite knowing how much stress it had caused him through the year. However Montague was right that it wouldn't do him any good to get into an argument with a teacher over this. Harry doubted that he would have worked as hard in the lead up to the exams if he'd known he would be given special consideration.

Harry deflated slightly and half nodded in agreement with Montague. "As much as I hate to admit it…"

Montague waved his hand mockingly in a gesture for Harry to continue and Harry rolled his eyes. "As much as I hate to admit it Graham, you are right. I would not fare well in an argument with Professor McGonagall."

Montague grinned. "Thank you Harry for acknowledging that I am right and you are wrong."

"You know I am overdue on a falling out with someone."

"Oh, Montague how will you go on if Harry falls out with you." Ginny teased, fastening the last few buttons on her shirt and tying her hair back.

"I'm sure as long as you're around to raise my morale Weasley, I'll get through it."

"Well, all I can say to that is thank Merlin we don't have mixed showers. Wouldn't want to raise you're morale too much." She smirked again, her voice heavy with innuendo.

Harry was half following Ginny's conversation with Montague, letting the friendly banter wash over him, his mind already broom-borne enjoying the freedom of soaring so high above the school. Harry thought that was what was so magical about flying, not that being able to fly wasn't magical in itself, but it was beyond the normal every day kind of magic, it was something more that he couldn't really describe- even to himself. At least for Harry, it was like the moment he kicked off from the ground on his broom every problem, every worry was left firmly on the ground, every problem becoming smaller and further away the higher he flew until they almost disappeared entirely.

He didn't have to worry about Voldemort in the sky, he didn't have to worry about exams, his sexuality or about anyone finding out about the bond.

Harry wondered whether it was the same for Ginny. He knew how much she'd had to overcome just to function as a normal student on a day to day basis, like Seamus she was still haunted by the memory of Tom Riddle's diary.

As Montague exited the changing room Harry turned to Ginny, about to ask her whether she found the same kind of solace in flying as she did, when he fully registered what Ginny and Montague had been saying to each other.

"I don't think it's a good idea- you flirting with Montague like that. Maybe you should tone it down?" Harry regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. It didn't matter how he worded it, suggestions like that never went down well with Ginny Weasley.

"Flirting? I'd hardly call that flirting." She made a noise of derision in the back of her throat and waved her hand in airily at him.

For a second Harry thought he'd gotten away with it and then she slowly turned her head towards him a look of bewildered indignation. "Anyway," she began.

That, Harry thought, was where he always got caught out. That anyway was the same one Hermione used when she was about to point out that Harry was being a hypocrite in some way.

Harry stood, rolling his discarded school uniform into a messy ball and carried his clothes over to the laundry hamper by the door to the boy's showers. His nose wrinkled in amusement as he turned back to Ginny "What's that supposed to mean? I have never flirted with Montague in my life."

"To begin with you tricked Cedric into kissing you, so that makes you two the only members of the team who've kissed."

"I wouldn't say that counts. I can't even remember why I thought it was a good idea, something to do with winding up Wood wasn't it?"

"And speaking of Wood, don't think I haven't seen you flirting with him- you have a boyfriend."

Harry tilted his head trying to work out if Ginny was being serious. Yes, he had flirted with Oliver during some Quidditch practices, but only because it amused him how jealous it made Cedric, despite the fact that Cedric was apparently now completely heterosexual. If anything it amused Seamus, more so because of his newfound friendship with Cedric rather than in spite of it. Maybe it wasn't a nice thing to do, but he would never have done it before he made up with Cedric, it was a friendly kind of teasing that had created an new dynamic and diffused a lot of the tension in the relationships between Harry, Cedric and Wood.

Harry explained this to Ginny as she helped him strap on his shoulder pads, a recent addition to the team's required training kit due to the team's proclivity for injury which had resulted in four broken collar bones, two broken scapulas and no less than seven dislocated shoulders, four of which had happened in the first hour of one particularly strenuous practice.

"And what about Davies?" Ginny was stood behind Harry, buckling the strap under his right arm, but he could almost hear her raised eyebrows in the tone of her voice.

"Ah, well. That's a different matter entirely. It's more of an admiration than a flirtation."

"I know I've already said this, but you have a boyfriend."

"And even he can't deny that Davies is ridiculously fit, like Bill Weasley level attractive and that's a big thing considering how little Seamus talks about being attracted to anyone but me."

Ginny made a sound of disgust in the back of her throat and stepped in front of Harry so that he could fasten the straps on her own shoulder pads. "Bill Weasley is not a measure by which we assess attractiveness." She intoned in a way that made Harry think she had told a lot of people the same thing.

Harry pulled the buckle at the back of Ginny's shoulder pad tight, fastened it and turned Ginny back around to face him.

He grinned teasingly. "Fine, whatever you say- but just so you know, if I ever say anyone's a ten out of ten I'm saying they're at least as fit as your brother."

She huffed in annoyance and punched him on shoulder in a way which was friendly but still hard enough to bruise. Harry winced, grateful for the padding and rubbed where she'd hit him. "Merlin Ginny, how strong are you?"

The door to the changing rooms reopened and Montague stepped back into the room, catching the final part of Harry's question and Ginny's reply of, "If you don't watch yourself you'll find out."

He paused in the doorway and playfully asked, "What do I have to do to find out how strong you are Weasley?"

"Oh Montague, I think that would be too much for you to handle."

He looked her up and down and tilted his head as though her were assessing her. "You know, I'd be inclined to agree with you about that."

Feeling as though once again Ginny and Montague were about to head directly into the territory Harry had just being trying to lecture Ginny on, Harry asked. "You forgotten something Montague? I'm surprised Jones let you leave the pitch once she had you out there."

"Yeah, forgot my Weasley vest. I think that's just about the only thing she'd let me leave to get, stupid really, it's not like we don't all know how to heal dislocated shoulders- and its not like Fred and George are here anyway."

"Don't call it that." Ginny said with an almost reflexive sigh. It wasn't as though her protests would make a difference, the name had stuck because most of the team, not entirely unfairly, blamed Fred and George for the addition of the shoulder pads to the team's kit, they were after all added to protect the team from bludger injuries.

"Hogwarts has a real chance of winning this thing, last thing we need is one of us is doing something stupid and getting ourselves hurt." Harry said.

"'One of us'" Monague repeated, with a raised eyebrow. "I don't think I'm at risk of doing something stupid and getting myself hurt and for that matter I don't think Diggory or Davies are either…"

"Mate, the only place I'm going to do something stupid and get myself hurt is on that pitch during the match, and you'll all be thanking me when it wins us the game."

Montague's smile froze for a second and his tone turned serious. "No one thanked you after the Durmstrang match, everyone on this team would rather lose this tournament than have something like that happen again. Save the stupidity for off the pitch… and after the match. Anyway, you two better get out there, Wood's starting to pace."

Harry and Montague exchanged a nod as Harry and Ginny headed for the changing room door. Harry was oddly touched by how seriously Montague had taken his joke, it wasn't just a team thing, Montague seemed to be genuinely concerned for Harry's safety.

"See, he's nice." Ginny hissed at him as they left the changing rooms. "I don't know if it's some kind Slytherin prejudice- which frankly if it is I'm shocked by- but there's no need to be worried about a bit of harmless flirting between teammates."

"It's got nothing to do with Slytherin prejudice, Montague's a decent guy but you're not interested in him, are you? You've got to be careful about these things."

"Well no, I'm not interested in him, like I said it's just harmless flirting. I don't think Montague's the kind to make unwanted advances or anything like that if that's what you're suggesting."

"I'm not suggesting that at all. It's just that Montague is interested in you, I mean you must know that generally you're considered to be well… a bit of a catch. Just don't let him think you're open to a relationship that you're not. I don't want to presume too much but since you haven't even made a move on Neville yet, I'm assuming you're not looking for a relationship at the moment."

Ginny didn't say anything for a while as they walked around the side of the building where the changing rooms were housed, towards the Quidditch Pitch. "Are you really the best person to be assessing how much of a catch I am? Although I know I'm a catch, I have a mirror."

Harry laughed. "I've got eyes haven't I? You don't have to be straight to know that someone's fit. Look, if you're interested in him I'm not going to stand in your way and Merlin help your brothers if they try to, I'm just concerned you're going to end up hurting Montague's feelings."

"I hardly think I'm going to hurt Montague's feelings." Ginny said with a scoff. "It is harmless flirting."

"Maybe for you."

"Oh, come off it, he's three years older than me. Just because Hermione has sixth and seventh years all over her doesn't mean that everyone else does."

"If I were straight I'd be interested in more than harmless flirting with you."

"Yeah and you're only a year older than me, it's hardly the same as a fifth year fancying me is it?"

"Krum's a seventh year and Hermione's a fourth year. That's a bigger difference."

Ginny scoffed. "If Hermione had been born twenty days earlier she'd be a fifth year now, if I was born a month earlier I'd be a second year now. It's a big difference. You've gotta think, she's nearly two years older than me even though she's only one school year above me. I think after everything that's happened in the last couple of years it's easy to forget that I am just thirteen, I might have had to grow a bit faster up because of Tom and what happened to Percy but I don't think that means I'm mature."

Harry could understand that, he always thought of Ginny as the same age as him and half the time he forgot that he was only fourteen.

"Anyway," Ginny continued, "Neville's been through a lot too, he knows what it's like."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Ah, of course you save someone's life once and they immediately fall in love with you."

"It worked for you."

"I wouldn't say that…" Harry furrowed his brow and ran a hand self consciously through his hair. Seamus had never really ever given any verbal indication that he felt for Harry how Harry felt for him. Harry tried not to let it bother him, Seamus wasn't ready and he certainly wasn't comfortable with being attracted to males, Harry worried that he never would be. "But I did save his life and fall in love with him so maybe that's how it works, Neville could be harbouring a secret love for you."

Ginny let out a small cough of amusement. "I can only wish."

As they neared the Quidditch Pitch, Harry could see that Jones already had Montague running the length of the pitch as part of a warm up.

After being lectured by Jones for the full amount of time it took them to do their stretches, she sent Harry and Ginny to join Montague in his warm-up. They spent the next twenty minutes running up and down the field, until Jones decide to incorporate a weighted Quaffle into the warm up. Having Ginny and Harry wait at one end of the pitch and Montague at the other, she then had Ginny set off running with the Quaffle and once three quarters of the way across the pitch she threw it to Montague who then set off running to throw the ball to Harry, who then crossed the pitch to throw it to Ginny.

No one complained when Wood and Jones kept them warming-up for a full hour before they were let in the air, they'd learnt not to after Davies had questioned it following a particularly gruelling warm-up and Jones had confiscated his broom, leaving him playing from the ground for the entire session.

Wood and Jones joined them in the air once they'd finished warming up. They separated into two teams, Harry, Ginny and Montague on one team verses Jones and Wood on the other and began a small game, trying to score goals with only the Quaffle in play. In all the time they'd been training as the Hogwarts team, Harry, Ginny and Montague had never had an opportunity to properly fly with Jones, she'd been in the air with them but always as a coach and never as a player. It quickly became apparent to Harry why she had been named Quidditch Quarterly's Beater of the Year for the last six consecutive years.

Built like a typical Beater, Jones wasn't a particularly graceful flyer but she was powerful. Once in possession of the Quaffle, there was almost no chance of retrieving it from her. Harry hung back, letting Ginny and Montague take the lead. They converged on her from either side and just as it looked like Montague might take possession of the Quaffle, Jones passed it backwards to Wood in a rugby-style pass.

Wood, who had appeared behind Jones out of nowhere flew upwards, passing the Quaffle back down to Jones as she barrelled through Montague and Ginny. The manoeuvres happened so quickly that Harry had barely registered that the ball had passed from Jones, to Wood, and back to Jones again as the Quaffle flew past his head and through the hoop he had happened to be flying near, just grazing the tips of his fingers as he reached out in an attempt to stop the ball.

It didn't get much better for them from there.

By the time twenty minutes had passed Wood and Jones were up seven points. The score was three - ten, Ginny had scored twice and Montague once. Harry had touched the Quaffle only four times, once as it brushed past him on its way through the hoop he was guarding, once when he stopped it and twice when he was passed it by a teammate only to be immediately tackled and lose possession of the ball.

After scoring his team's eleventh goal Wood blew his whistle and called a halt to the practice, gesturing for them to fly back down to the ground.

"Not bad at all." Jones said as she dismounted her broom. "I can really see just how much you have all improved this year."

"Are you kidding? That was absolutely abysmal." Ginny snapped, throwing her gloves at the ground as she landed next to Jones. "What was the point in that? You completely slaughtered us out there and all we've really done is proven how shit we are at Quidditch."

Jones's eyes flicked down to the gloves on the ground and then back up to Ginny, she raised an eyebrow and Ginny huffed snatching up the gloves. "Lose the attitude, Weasley."

Ginny scoffed but didn't say anything, clearly thinking, like Harry, that Jones was hardly one to talk, with her reputation for being quite a sore loser and her tendency to hex people who disagreed with her.

"Wood and I have been training you for nearly a year now, clearly we were always going to win. I've been playing professional Quidditch for almost a decade and Wood captained the Gryffindor team last year, he's been analysing Potter and Montague's technique since they first joined their house teams and we've both flown with Weasleys before- you all have a similar style, not to mention the fact that Wood has been training with Puddlemere all season, none of you had a chance against us in that kind of small match."

"So what was the point then?" Montague asked, his tone harsher than usual. Harry could see how frustrated he was, they all were. It felt like Jones and Wood had planned a match to utterly humiliate them, they'd barely stood a chance and the only goals they had scored had been either down to luck or thanks to the fact that their team had an extra player.

"You all know how competitive I am," Wood said. Harry snorted that was a vast understatement, he distinctly remembered being told on more than one occasion to 'catch the snitch or die trying'. Wood met Harry's eyes and the corner of his mouth curled up in a small smile of acknowledgement, "and I'm sure you are all aware of Jones'… reputation. We all want a win for Hogwarts, but that isn't the point of this."

"You're telling us the point isn't winning?" Harry asked.

"Of course we want you to win, but the point of this Tournament isn't winning, it's about cooperation. With everything going on in Britain right now, with You-Know-Who back this competition is supposed to bring us together. You're all aware that Puddlemere and the Harpies have a strained relationship, to say the least, but Jones and I put our team's rivalries aside and trained the Hogwarts team together this year. This competition is about unity, unity between schools, rivals and I think most importantly right now, the Hogwarts Houses. The Slytherin, Gryffindor rivalry is as old as Hogwarts itself and obviously it's not going to be fixed by five people playing a friendly game of Quidditch but we had an ex-Slytherin and an ex-Gryffindor playing against two current Gryffindors and one current Slytherin and House rivalry didn't come into it once. This is what this tournament is about, it's not Slytherin vs. Gryffindor anymore. Rivalries like that are fine when we're at peace in fact I'd actively encourage it, there's nothing wrong with a bit of healthy competition it encourages people to be their best and fosters a sense of pr-"

"What Wood was trying to say," Jones said cutting him off, "is that when we're facing the kind of danger that You-Know-Who poses, we can only succeed together. If the enemy sees you as a threat it won't matter what house you were in. This team was put together to demonstrate this, to show a united Hogwarts and wether we win the match next weekend or not you need to remember that."

"Obviously we'd prefer it if you do win." Wood interjected, not quite paying attention to Harry, Ginny and Montague as his eyes followed the rest of the team as they emerged from the castle and began the walk down to the pitch. "Right, well if you three go get cleaned up, the Three Broomsticks awaits."

"You're actually letting us leave training early? You do know the final match is next weekend, right?" Montague asked.

"Not exactly, its still training. We're all going to go into the village for a drink. Think of it as a team bonding exercise." Jones said.

"And those four just get to miss out on training? We've just had to spend over an hour running around like muggles and they just get to go to the pub instead?" Ginny asked indignantly.

"We can begin warm ups and do the training all over again if you'd prefer?" When no one said anything Jones continued. "I thought not, you three go get showered and changed. Wood and I are going have a similar chat with Davies, Diggory, Weasley and Weasley and we'll see you back out here in quarter of an hour."

OOOOO

The Three Broomsticks was a twenty minute walk from the school. As the team left the school gates a man and a women in matching grey robes fell into step behind them. They were both tall, fairly broad, and wore wand holsters on the outside of their robes clearly illustrating at the smallest glance that they were armed and ready to fight.

Wood glanced over his shoulder uncertainly at the duo and then to Harry before murmuring something to Jones, his hand sliding slowly to where his wand was concealed beneath his robes.

Wood slowed so that he was walking next to Harry and murmured. "Am I right in thinking that if they were Death Eaters they wouldn't have waited this long to attack?"

Harry sighed, he was hoping that this wouldn't come up. A few weeks earlier he'd been invited into Professor Dumbledore's office for a meeting with the Minister for Magic and Bill Weasley's girlfriend Tonks, where he'd been informed that he was to have an escort when outside of the school.

Tonks had been assigned to him for the summer, Harry had gotten the impression that there was something political going on between the Minister and Dumbledore in this assignment but had not yet had the opportunity to dig further into it. All they told him was that after what had happened at the World Cup the ministry believed Harry was important for the upcoming war and they wanted to keep him safe.

"The ministry sent them to watch me." Harry said, with a pained expression as he glanced back at the stony faced duo. There was something so embarrassing about requiring bodyguards, he wasn't important enough to need them but the very fact they were following likely made people think that he thought he was important enough to need them. "They will have been waiting outside since the gates opened for the Hogsmeade trip on the off chance I left, or someone dodgy tried to get in."

"So you know them? We're safe?"

"Neither of them are my usual escort but I saw them both at the ministry at my godfather's trial. We're as safe as we can be with Voldemort back." Harry said with a light shrug, wishing that they looked a bit less like bodyguards, or would at the very least walk a bit further behind them.

Thankfully the walk to the Three Broomsticks was short and the people from the ministry picked up their pace as they neared the pub, slipping inside before Harry and the Hogwarts Quidditch team.

The pub was packed with students from Hogwarts, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons; all out enjoying the last Hogsmeade weekend of the year. Harry spotted his ministry assigned 'guards' at the back of the pub at a small table, in the tap room to the side of the main bar. Several tables had been pushed together at the back and somehow remained empty despite the number of people who were seatless and standing by the bar.

Harry found the area in front of the bar almost stifling, with so many people packed in on such a hot day and he could barely hear his companions over the many voices, all clamouring to be heard over each other. It was a pub designed for perhaps half the number of people it currently held and, in Harry's opinion, lost a lot of its charm during the heat of the summer months, it was what he considered a winter pub. The brass fixtures on the bar, the wooden beams and the large mirror behind the bar all radiated a sense of coziness and the leaded windows, which had been thrown open wide were too small to let any kind of breeze into the pub, still most students preferred this to the small cobbled courtyard the Hogs Head called a beer garden.

Wood gestured for the team to head over to the tables in the tap room, and indicated that he would buy the first round- pointing to the butterbeer tap and and nodding to each team member, giving them all a thumbs up in turn. A dad-like gesture which reminded Harry immensely of his Uncle Vernon.

As Harry fought his way through the pub, he sensed Hermione nearby. He turned, spotting her at a small table behind the stairs sitting with Seamus, Ron, Dean, Neville and surprisingly Luna; he gestured to Montague that he was going to pop over to say hello.

Hermione, who had likely known Harry was there as soon as he'd sensed her didn't turn as he bear hugged her from behind and planted a kiss on the top of her head. The others, who had obviously not realised Harry was in the pub looked up in surprise.

Seamus looked at him with such delight that he was there that Harry felt butterflies in his stomach as he asked. "Thought you had practice all day?"

"Wood let us off early- don't worry about it mate, the teams waiting for me." He added to Ron who had already begun to shuffle up the bench to make room for Harry. "Team bonding I think."

"Oh." Ron said, looking disappointed as he moved back into his original seat. "Maybe you could join us later then?"

Harry nodded. "I'll come over later if you're still here… and if Wood doesn't set us all an eight o'clock bedtime for the next couple of days before the match. It would not surprise me."

Harry gave Hermione one last hug and said goodbye to his friends, letting his hand brush lingeringly over Seamus' shoulder as he passed in a way he hoped looked completely innocent to anyone watching, but which gave him a small thrill at the almost illicitness of the physical contact in such a packed public place.

Wood collared Harry on his way back through the pub towards the team's table and gestured for him to help him help carry the pints of butterbeers he'd bought over to their table. Wood, who'd also enlisted the help of Davies, slid three glasses each towards the other two men and picked up his own three, indicating that they should follow suit.

Copying Wood's technique of holding one pint each against his thumbs, and the third with his middle and index finger, Harry hurried after his coach, not wanting the gap Wood had cleared through the crowd to close before he managed to get through himself.

Harry joined the team at the table, sliding one pint each to Fred and Cedric who were across the table from him as Davies sat down in the only other remaining seat at table. This part of the pub was relatively quiet compared to the area around the bar and for a moment Harry wondered again how the table had remained empty. This thought was immediately answered when he looked across the table and spotted a small plaque reading:

Reserved: Hogwarts Quidditch Team.

Wood, who was seated at the head of the table with Jones, stood as the team took their seats and raised his glass. "Enjoy tonight, the next few days are going to be hell for you. Starting tomorrow we'll be training every day until the match, but it will be all worth it."

"Fucking odd toast." Jones muttered, side eying Wood as she raised her glass to take a drink before realising Wood was still giving the toast and re-raising her glass.

Wood somehow managed to both suck his teeth and purse his lips at Jones before continuing with his toast. "Jones and I, more or less, said everything we needed to on the pitch earlier so I'll make this brief. We're honoured that you chose the two of us to be your coaches for this tournament. We've both watched as you've grown this past year, you've gone from a group of people playing Quidditch together to a real team. It's been a privilege training with the seven of you this past year. If you fly next weekend like I have seen you fly, there is no doubt in my mind that we will win. To the Hogwarts team."

The team let out a small cheer and echoed 'to Hogwarts' back to Wood.

As Ginny began discussing the Harpie's chances in the upcoming League Cup tournament with Wood and Jones, Harry turned to Davies and asked, "How was your last exam?"

Davies eyes widened comically and he glanced over to the twins and Cedric.

"It went well, I think. I know I did well in the practical but there were a couple of questions I wasn't sure on in the theory… Do you know what the three key distinctions between an Inferius and a Zombie?"

"Uh…" Harry said, his year hadn't yet covered Inferi in Defence Against the Dark Arts and if he was being completely honest, Harry had thought that Zombies and Inferi were the same thing.

Davies didn't seem to need a response from Harry. "Well, I mentioned that Zombies are mostly from Haitian folklore and usually only found in Louisiana, South America and West Africa, but do you think I should have mentioned that they have been seen in other parts of the world too? I didn't know if I was supposed to go into depth about Voodoo practices, I know it's banned in Britain but when you read into it it's not really dark magic like the Ministry of Magic and MACUSA say it is.

"It's a religion that's practiced by magic and non-magic people that just has a really close relationship with magic. But all that seems a bit much for a sixth-year Defence Against the Dark Arts exam, don't you think? And I don't think the examiners would appreciate me disagreeing with the official stance of the Ministry, so I didn't mention the Voodoo stuff. But maybe I should have? I could have missed out on marks, that could be the difference between an O and an E. Thinking on it I should have mentioned Voodoo practices, shouldn't I?"

"Are you still going on about that Inferi question?" George asked Davies, who looked about ready to pull out his own hair. "We've been over this, it was just three simple points. One, Zombie's are magically preserved bodies, Inferi are just corpses in whatever state they were animated. Two, Inferi kill indiscriminately and Zombies just don't, and finally, Inferi can only be destroyed with fire and Zombie can be killed in many ways." George said in a monotone, counting each point off on his fingers as though he'd already been through this several times with Davies. "That's it. That's all me, Fred and Diggory put and it's more or less what you said you put."

"That's true but-" Davies began.

"But nothing." George interrupted, glancing at Harry who had been sat silent, not quite sure how to respond through Davies' exam analysis. "We've gone through this exam a million times."

Cedric seemed to catch onto their discussion and turned to George. "Is he still going on about that exam, despite the ban?"

George nodded solemnly. "Despite the ban."

Cedric raised an eyebrow. "Despite the consequences?"

George glanced to the coaches and then to the bar with a sly grin. "Perhaps because of the consequences."

"I wasn't banned from talking about the exam to Potter." Davies protested half heartedly.

"You were banned from discussing it for the rest of the night, the motion was put to a vote and passed three to one." Cedric said with a small shrug. "The decision is out of our hands now"

George stood and walked round the table clapping Davies on the shoulder. "It's for your own good, there's no use in stressing over an exam that's finished, you've done all you can and there's no use worrying about it now." His hand still on Davies' shoulder George surveyed the table with a broad grin on his face. "My round, what can I get everyone?"

When George had gotten everyone's drink orders he headed for the bar, dragging Davies with him and gesturing for Cedric to follow.

Harry sat back in his seat, bemused. He hadn't expected Davies to be quite that highly strung when it came to exams. Of the members of the Hogwarts team, Harry spent the most time with Ginny, the twins and Montague, he hadn't spent as much time with Davies mainly due to the falling out he'd had with Cedric. Even Percy had never been quite so anxious about his exams, not even his NEWTs. It was the last thing he'd expected from Davies.

As Fred finished the conversation he was having with Jones, Harry leant across the table and nodded towards the trio at the bar. "What was that all about?"

"He's been a pain in our arses since the start of exams. I've honestly never met anyone more Ravenclaw than him."

"So what do you two and Cedric have to do with that?"

"We implemented a ban on all exam discussion for the rest of the day. The agreement is if any of us break the rules we get too drunk to remember the exam."

Harry could feel his Hermioneish side coming out and was very aware that any kind of disapproval of their deal would seem uncool to Fred and Harry desperately didn't want to come across as a wet blanket.

However, he couldn't quite help himself. "We've got an early practice tomorrow."

Fred shrugged. "Davies should have through about that before he started going on about that exam. The hangover will be our punishment for Davies breaking the rules."

"What'll Jones and Wood say?"

"Can't say anything, can they? The four of us are all of age, we would have been coming into town after practice if they hadn't brought us anyway."

Harry wanted to voice his disapproval of this plan. They had four practices on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday left before their final match and the four sixth years on the team wanted to spend one of them hungover. He bit his tongue as Fred left the table to join the other Sixth Year team members at the bar.

"Why didn't you say something?" Montague, who had apparently been listening to Harry's conversation, asked. "You clearly wanted to."

"I don't want Fred to think I'm boring."

It took Montague a second too long to say, "No one's going to think Harry Potter is boring."

"So you think I'm boring." Harry asked, resting an elbow on the table in front of him and staring intently at Montague, not quite sure what to make of this revelation.

Motague flashed him an easygoing smile and raised a finger as though to shush Harry. "Now, I know how quick you are to fly off the handle at perceived slights so hear me out."

Harry pursed his lips in what he hoped would be a disapproving look, flattered that Montague felt friendly enough with him to speak his mind, whilst also feeling the need to at least maintain a semblance of an irritable facade. "Go on."

Montague grinned and mirrored Harry's pose, with one elbow on the table. He picked up his butterbeer and took a sip before draining half the liquid in the glass. "Well," he said, setting his glass back on the table. "It's no surprise you don't have a girlfriend."

The smile that had been beginning to form to match Montague's infectious grin froze and Harry kept his eyes frozen on Montague, unsure whether the other boy had noticed the way they'd flicked suddenly to Seamus' table at his words. "What do you mean by that?"

"You haven't got time have you?" Montague said, apparently oblivious to Harry's sudden tension. "You just spend all your time training, running and doing school work. You don't exactly spend a lot of time socialising. That Lovegood girl, with the sparkly dress robes, that you went to the Yule ball with seemed nice but I heard you ditched her and went back to your dormitory alone."

"That's an example of me not being boring though, Snape kicked me out of the Yule ball for fighting."

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that, you got caught duelling with Malfoy, Knott and Viktor Krum. I don't think I've ever seen Professor Snape as angry as he was with Malfoy the next day, the whole…"

-Am I boring?- Harry asked Hermione half tuning Montague out as he gleefully described in detail Malfoy's Boxing Day punishment from Severus.

-Because you don't think half your team should get drunk when you've got practice tomorrow? I hardly think that's boring-

-Ask Ron-

-Ask Ron if you're boring?-

-Ask him his opinion on the team getting drunk, point out what they're doing at the bar or something… see what Shay and Dean think too-

Harry watched through Hermione as she pointed out the Twins, Cedric and Davies at the bar and suggested that she hoped Harry wouldn't join in with their 'shenanigans'. Harry's friends immediately disagreed, with Ron even suggesting that it might be a good idea for Harry to let his hair down 'for once in his life'

"Oh Merlin, I am boring aren't I?" Harry said to Montague, who looked as though he'd been waiting for Harry to answer a question.

"Boring's an awfully strong word."

Harry swiftly downed the rest of his pint and twisted in his seat, hoping that the twins hadn't left the bar yet. "George'll get me alcohol if I ask won't he?"

He stood, making a vague comment to the table at large about nipping to the toilet and determinedly set off through the crowds towards the bar.

Pushing to through the crowds to his team mates Harry said, "I'm the one that made Davies talk about the exam so…" He glanced hopefully towards the bar and then to George. "if you use your seasoned charm to get me something stronger than butterbeer, I'll pay for us all."

"Nice one, Harry!" George cheered. "You too Montague?"

The room had been so loud and densely packed with bodies that Harry hadn't realised Montague had followed him to the bar. Harry turned to see Montague standing behind him with an annoyingly knowing smile on his face.

He shrugged. "Yeah, why not? Nothing too strong to start though, yeah?"

"Mead?"

"None of that weak mulled stuff though," Montague leant forward, inspecting the badges on the pumps. "I'll have the Ilkley Moor, Potter?"

"Um, I think so?" Harry said, trying and failing to not make it sound like a question. He'd quickly resolved that he wasn't going to be boring but as soon as he'd reached the bar and realised he had to order something he felt suddenly out of his depth. He only really knew the wizarding alcohols Severus drank, which were generally Firewhiskey or Steaming Stout. "That's mead right?"

Montague smirked. "Yeah, but it's not too strong- you won't be hammered after a couple, just a bit tipsy. Although I can't imagine you've drunk that much so you could be plastered after one."

"Best starting with something this strength so you can find your feet." George said clapping Harry on the shoulder and leaning in conspiratorially, with a quick glance towards Madam Rosmerta behind the bar. "You two kids best go sit down, we'll bring the drinks over."

Harry felt particularly satisfied as he pushed his way back through the bar towards the Hogwarts table, he'd successfully managed to prove that he wasn't boring after all.

"You're looking awfully pleased with yourself." Montague said, flopping elegantly down into his chair at the Hogwarts table.

"I'm not so boring after all am I?"

"I wouldn't say that." Montague raised an eyebrow in amusement, his light tone clearly intended to tease some kind of reaction from Harry.

"What do you mean by that?" Harry asked, puffing himself up like an annoyed parrot.

"It's just you're pretty reactionary, aren't you?"

Harry thought on that for a second and couldn't help his Hermioneish impulse to correct the other boy. "You mean I'm reactive, reactionary is a political stance… and I'm not reactionary."

Montague smirked again and Harry couldn't help but feel like he'd been tricked into correcting the other boy. "So you are reactive?" He asked. "Everything you do seems to be a reaction to something."

"Er, aren't all actions reactions to other things?"

Montague gave him a long, unimpressed look. "Look Harry, you're a decent bloke… never thought I'd say that about a Gryffindor, especially not sober and about 'Golden-Boy Potter', but you're not exactly proactive. You seem to just do the first thing that comes to mind when you encounter any issue or problem."

Harry was a little bit taken aback by Montague's use of his first name and it took him a second to actually process what the other boy had said. His mind went straight to how Cedric had told him not to tell anyone about his sexuality and his immediate reaction had been to plan to tell everyone that he was gay.

"Shit. You're right. What do I do about it?"

Montague shrugged. "I don't know, I was just trying to wind you up. I was hoping you'd protest a bit more or something, angry Potter after a couple of meads would have been hilarious."

Harry wasn't sure he'd ever actually been angry with Montague, for a Slytherin he was awfully easy to get along with. Even his advice about Harry's flaws didn't come across nearly as preachy as Cedric's, possibly because his attitude seemed to be that everything was beneath him and he was only involving himself for his own amusement. For all his flaws Cedric did seem to care about Harry.

"Well, sorry to disappoint- thanks" Harry said, accepting a glass of foaming liquid from Davies as the rest of the team returned to the table. "You know, people don't usually go to the effort of teasing people they don't like. I think at this point you could say we're friends?"

Montague tried to keep his face straight but a small quirk of his lips as he lazily raised an eyebrow betrayed him. "You think so do you?"

Harry grinned, feeling himself relax into the conversation a bit. He usually found that when he put on his cocky persona, it did in fact make him more confident. "Don't feel too bad Montague, I have to say, I'm a really likeable person, it's difficult to not warm to me."

He took a large gulp of his mead and immediately clenched his jaw to stop himself spitting it back out. His eyes bulged and his nose crinkled as he furiously tried to keep his face as straight as possible so as to not embarrass himself in front of the older boys, it was thick and sweet like cough medicine but also somehow dry, as though he'd bitten into an underripe persimmon.

"Jesus, that's vile." Harry croaked, his eyes watering slightly as he set his glass back on the table.

The mead seemed to go down a lot easier once he'd finished his first few pints.

At some point between his second and fourth pint the duo sent to guard Harry had approached him and tried to gently suggest that he should slow down with his drinking. So gently in fact that Harry hadn't had a clue what they were talking about and had tried to get Fred to buy them Firewhiskey shots. The guards, who apparently were uncertain as to whether they were actually allowed to stop underage drinking, resigned themselves to quietly watching Harry from a corner of the pub.

Once Jones and Wood returned to the castle, leaving the team to bond alone, Davies suggested that the team along with what felt like half of the student population of Hogwarts should move over to The Hogs Head, where he insisted they would be able to drink without upsetting any of the locals or Madam Rosmerta.

Harry was shocked by how light it still was outside as he exited the pub, somehow being in the dark crowded pub he'd managed to convince himself they'd been out drinking late into the night when in reality it appeared to be still early evening. He wasn't sure whether it was the brightness or the fresh air, but Harry felt suddenly very dizzy as he exited the pub. He grabbed Davies by the wrist to steady himself and blinked hard several times, fighting to re-orientate himself.

Once in the Hogs Head, Harry handed a bag of gold to someone and the drinks started flowing again, this time with Harry's dorm-mates and several Beuxbaton and Durmstrang students present.

The night seemed to move quickly once they were in the Hogshead, the group took most of the tables in the centre of the pub and the room seemed to vibrate with the energy of the students inside.

Harry didn't realise that Montague had vanished off to a shadowy corner of the bar with a Beauxbaton girl, until he finished his current drink and looked around the pub for the other boy. He'd been following Montague's lead in what and how much to drink and felt almost lost now that the chair next to him was suddenly empty. He wasn't even sure he knew what he'd been just drinking.

Misreading the confused expression Harry had had on his face when he'd spotted Montague in the corner, Davies clapped him on the shoulder and said. "You know Potter, you could get any girl in here."

Joe Willoughby, one of Davies' friends who Harry couldn't remember joining their table nodded his head in agreement. "They're falling over themselves to get with you, even if you weren't famous you've got that aura of mystery that girls love." He glanced over his shoulder to where a group of girls were sat at a table behind them and raised a hopeful eyebrow. "Maybe we can get some by being associated with you, it seemed to work for Montague."

"Mate, what makes me so attractive doesn't rub off on people, it's innate." The being cocky thing seemed to really be working tonight. Harry felt invincible and almost as though everything he was saying was true.

The Ravenclaws seemed to lap up everything Harry was saying which only bolstered his confidence.

"You and that Granger are close aren't you? I heard you're the reason she broke up with Viktor Krum." Willoughby asked, planting his elbows on the table as he leant in closer to Harry, not noticing that he'd just sloshed half his pint down the front of his robes.

"Granger? I thought there was something between you and Weasley?" Davies asked, nodding in the direction of the Weasley twins who were stood talking Cedric behind Harry.

Harry supposed he should have realised that there would be rumours connecting him romantically to Hermione and Ginny, he spent enough time alone with them for people to suspect something was going on. "There's nothing going on with either of them, Hermione's like my sister and Ginny's one of my best friends."

Willoughby quirked an eyebrow. "So they're both single?"

"I can tell you now that Ginny won't be interested and Hermione just broke up with Krum- so if you think you can compare to one of the world's best seekers, go ahead."

Willoughby deflated a little bit at that and asked instead. "Well if it's not either of them, you must have your eye on someone. Now could be your chance to make a move, you've got this tournament in the bag, Harry Potter has probably never been more attractive."

It always made Harry feel a little bit weird when people called him by his full name, he never felt like it actually meant him. Harry Potter seemed like an entirely different person to Harry. For one thing Harry Potter wasn't gay. Harry could change that though. Like Willoughby said, Harry Potter had never been more attractive.

In the past year he'd fought Voldemort and won, beaten Viktor Krum to the Snitch in a real Quidditch match, been signed to play for a proper League Quidditch team and they did pretty much have the the tournament in the bag, he was pretty much invincible. Even if the rest of the Wizarding world did find out he was gay how much damage could it actually do to his reputation? He was Harry Potter.

"You know what," Harry said, suddenly feeling very confident, as though he'd just taken a dose of Felix Felicis. "You know what? I haven't got my eye on any girls at the moment, I'm actually-"

Harry was cut off as someone bumped into him from behind and what felt like a full pint of Steaming Stout was spilled over his shoulder and down his front. He shot to his feet and felt a wave of dizziness pass over him as he turned to see Cedric stood behind him with an empty tankard, not looking quite guilty enough for the bump to have been an accident.

Cedric accioed some napkins from the bar which floated dreamily towards them and dropped to the floor a metre before they reached them. Cedric swore quietly to himself and hurried over to grab them, before using them to hurriedly dab at Harry's robes, all the while making half-hearted apologies to Harry for his 'clumsiness'.

Harry snatched the napkins away from Cedric and through them down on the table. "What was that for? And why do you keep dabbing me, just use a drying spell."

Cedric blinked slowly, his eyes not quite focusing on Harry's. "Too drunk," He shook his head, "Clean it first anyway, you don't want beer drying into your robes." He pushed Harry in the direction of the toilets. "Go dry your robes, and watch who you talk to. You're too drunk to be telling people personal stuff, you'll regret it tomorrow."

"I'm not drunk." Harry protested, stumbling into a table as set off towards the toilet.

His path to the toilet was impeded by the duo from the ministry who seemed to have followed him across the pub and were apparently planning to go into the toilet with him. "You don't have to come in with me, surely you don't need to watch me at the urinal." He waved clumsily towards the door. "I'll wait here if you want to check for Voldemort before I go in."

The man blinked hard as Harry said 'Voldemort' and drew his wand before entering the toilet. As he waited Harry found he was unable to stand still, instead he felt himself rocking gently in place, unable to make his body stay still.

It occurred to him suddenly that he hadn't seen Hermione since they'd talked through the bond at the Three Broomsticks. He turned, looking for her and spotted Seamus instead who met his eyes and appeared to read something in his expression and set off across the pub towards him.

"Where's Hermione?" He asked as Seamus reached him. "I can't see her."

"She went back to the castle with Ginny when we left The Three Broomsticks, what happened to you? Why is there steam coming from your robes?"

Harry had completely forgotten the spilt beer and glanced down in surprise. "Cedric spilled on me." The man exited the toilet and Harry waved for Seamus to follow him in. "Help me clean this off, please."

Harry removed his wet outer robes as they entered the bathroom and ran them under the tap. He glanced up, shocked to see his reflection staring confusedly back at him. He stuck his tongue out in confusion at the mirror and dropped his robes into the sink, leaving the tap still running.

"Hermione's gone back to the castle?" Harry said aloud, checking more with himself than Seamus. He had just realised that he hadn't actually felt her through the bond since before he'd finished his first proper drink.

"Yeah, a couple of hours ago. I thought Ginny would have let you know."

It occurred to Harry then that anything he did with Seamus now, Hermione wouldn't be able to see, since the bond was apparently affected by alcohol.

Harry stepped forward and pushed Seamus backwards into one of the cubicles, flicking the door closed behind them. Music and voices from outside the bathroom seemed to press in on them but the toilet cubicle felt like a little safe bubble away from the rest of the pub.

Harry's mouth was on Seamus' before the other boy could utter a word. Seamus tasted like beer and Harry felt himself melt against him. He knew his kisses were sloppy and that he was leaning far too much on Seamus, if the other boy moved away now he'd fall over, unable to support his own body weight.

Seamus pulled his head back a big grin splitting his face as he surveyed Harry. "You're pissed aren't you?"

Harry shook his head and pressed a sloppy kiss against Seamus' jaw. "'m, tipsy, not drunk."

"I've seen tipsy, you're hammered. You're slurring your words."

"I am not." Harry said indignantly, he rested his forehead against Seamus' cheek and tested himself. "She shells she shells on the she shore, see? I'm not slurring."

"A mhuirnín, you're plastered." He cupped Harry's face in his hand and rubbed a thumb across his cheek.

Harry leant into Seamus' hand, feeling as though it was the only think keeping him standing. He hadn't realised that the world had started to spin until Seamus' touch stopped it. "I think I might have had too much to drink."

Seamus moved his hand up from Harry's cheek, over his ear and gently through his hair. "I think you might be right." He murmured. "How do you feel? Are you alright, you looked a out of it when I came over to you, is it the booze or did something upset you?"

Harry tried to think back, he couldn't really remember why he'd come into the toilet in the first place. "I couldn't see Hermione, I forgot to check in."

"You don't have to check in Harry, you were having a good time with your team. You're allowed to do that, you don't have to protect everyone all the time." He straightened and wrapped an arm around Harry's middle. "C'mon, we'd better get back out there, your bodyguards are going to start wondering what were up to in here."

"They're not bodyguards, the ministry sent them to watch me." Harry protested, not entirely sure what distinction he was actually making.

Seamus pushed open the toilet door and turned to Harry, his eyebrows knotting together and the corner of his mouth turning upwards in a half smile. "You didn't lock the door you daft pisshead."

Outside their small cubicle Harry suddenly felt a lot more unsteady on his feet, he staggered over to the urinal and had to rest one hand against the wall to keep himself upright as he went to the toilet.

When he was finished Harry turned to find that Seamus had taken his abandoned robes from the sink by the door and had finished cleaning and drying them. Harry gratefully accepted his robes from the other boy and pulled them on. "Thank you."

"We've got a couple of hours 'till curfew, do you think you'll manage that long? I'm not sure Dean, Neville and Ron will want to go back yet, but I'll come back to the castle with you if you're done."

Harry shook his head, swaying slightly as he did so. "'m not done yet, 'm not boring… 's not even dark out yet." He started towards the door and then turned back to Seamus, suddenly realising that he hadn't spent any time with Seamus all evening. "Why didn't you sit with me tonight? You still like me don't you?"

The amused smile that Seamus had been wearing since he realised that Harry had had too much to drink, transformed into one of immense fondness. "Of course I still like you. You were the one who said to me we need to spend time with people outside this relationship, I didn't want to intrude on your time with the team."

"Oh." That hadn't occurred to Harry.

Seamus took took Harry's hand and pulled him towards the door. "C'mon, I think we'd better get you back out there."

"I proper love you Shay." Harry said, now aware of just how much he was beginning to slur his words.

Seamus opened the bathroom door and, letting go of Harry's hand, pushed him out ahead of him. "I think you might need a glass of water."

Harry made a vague gesture towards Seamus and tried to put on his most sober expression as he walked past his two guards waiting outside the bathroom for him. "Don't worry, Voldemort didn't sneak in and kill me whilst I was in there."

Next to him Seamus rolled his eyes and made a derisive noise. "Did you two upset the Minister for Magic or something? How did you end up getting stuck with this shitty assignment, babysitting a drunk teenager on a Friday night?" The pair glanced uneasily at one another and Seamus grinned. "C'mon what did you do to upset Fudge? I mean you clearly haven't even been given the authority to tell a fourteen-year-old off for underage drinking, it must have been pretty bad."

"We are only here to protect Mr. Potter in case of an attack." The witch said, casting a disapproving look over to where the rest of the team were talking loudly at the other side of the bar.

Harry's face fell at the look of disapproval on her face. "Are you disappointed in me?"

Seamus rolled his eyes and nudged Harry towards the team table. "Stop worrying you daft sod, I hardly think two adults are going to be too upset that you've had too much to drink with your team mates." Seamus glanced up to the two wizards guarding Harry. "I'd apologise for him but I'm sure you don't actually care, and I'm sure when he sobers up tomorrow he'll probably send you a letter of apology or something, his adoptive mam's a stickler for things like that."

Harry nodded, not entirely following what Seamus was saying as he met Ron's eyes across the bar and gestured for his housemates to meet them at the team table. "Yeah, me too."

Seamus attempted to share a look of amusement with one of Harry's guards but both remained un-amused by Harry's response. "Well this was a thrilling conversation, I'm glad we took all the time to get to know each other. Next time I see you I'll hopefully be as drunk as he is." He said, nodding his head towards Harry.

"I think you were being a bit of a dick to them." Harry said to Seamus in what was supposed to be a whisper as they moved away from the duo.

"I was, yeah. Fudge sent them to watch you, it's not as though anyone's going to attack you in Hogsmeade. If he really wanted you guarded he's have sent Aurors, or at the very least a Hit Wizard not whatever they are."

OOOOO

Seamus' plan to get as drunk as Harry was short-lived. As soon as they reached the Hogwarts table a drink was thrust into Harry's hand, which Harry promptly downed in one motion, wrinkling his nose in distaste as he set the empty goblet on the table. Harry then passed a handful of Galleons to Davies who went to the bar and returned a few minutes later with a bottle of Firewhiskey and several glasses.

As the rest of his dorm-mates joined them at the Hogwarts table, Seamus wondered aloud about what kind of irresponsible bar-person would just hand over a bottle of Firewhiskey to a barely of-age Hogwarts student sitting at a table with a group of clearly drunk under-age students.

As glasses brimming with steam were passed around, conversation began flowing and Cedric pulled Seamus to one side.

"Is he alright?" He asked, nodding his head sideways towards Harry.

Seamus took a mouthful of Firewhiskey, spluttering only a little bit as it seared his throat on the way down. "Why wouldn't he be?"

"He's had too much to drink."

"He's not the only one." Seamus said with a smirk, raising an eyebrow at Cedric who had begun to sway slightly in a way reminiscent of Harry, just before he'd had to put a hand on the wall to steady himself in the bathroom.

Cedric nodded several times in a way that made him look like a muggle bobble-head toy. "I know, I know. I take it he was fine in the bathroom though?"

Seamus shrugged, not really sure what kind of answer Cedric was after. Did he want to know what they'd done in the bathroom? Seamus blushed at the thought of telling anyone about kissing Harry in a toilet cubicle and avoided meeting Cedric's eyes. "He was fine. Are you fine though? You're getting there, but you don't seem drunk enough yet to be spilling drinks everywhere. What happened?"

"Well that's what I was trying to get at," Cedric said in a conspiratorial tone which wasn't nearly quiet enough to be actually conspiratorial. "He started trying to tell Davies and Willoughby that he's not interested in girls."

"He- wait who's Willoughby?" In answer to Seamus' question Cedric pointed over at a short dark haired boy who seemed to be playing a game with beermats with one of the Weasley twins.

"Oh I thought he was something Wells-Hatton… never-mind, so that's why you spilt your drink on him, to shut him up?"

"Look it's none of my business what you two get up to, but he threatened to tell everyone about… his preferences before Christmas and clearly decided against it. I didn't think it was a good idea for him to go telling people things like that when he was drunk."

Seamus finished the rest of his Firewhisky, watching Harry across the table as he downed what had to be at the very least his second shot of whiskey.

"Thanks for stopping him. Even if he wasn't famous, everyone would have heard before breakfast tomorrow. Remember that Seventh Year lass last year that got pregnant? I heard half the school knew about it before the dad even found out."

"I didn't realise you were such a gossip."

"I've recently joined a certain community and, according to Harry, we like gossip."

"That seems like a stereotype."

"Apparently it's allowed if you're the one being stereotyped."

Cedric raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure that's true?"

Seamus shrugged. He wasn't sure whether he was supposed to pretend that he didn't know that Cedric had ever had a relationship with Wood. If he was being completely honest it made him a little bit uncomfortable to think about it. He had a general idea about how an intimate relationship between two men worked. There were some things he'd thought about doing with Harry that excited him but most of what he thought he knew kind of embarrassed him to think about. Harry had made comments in the past about the nature of Cedric and Wood's relationship, but every time Seamus had thought about that, he struggled to make eye contact with either man involved.

Seamus uncomfortably ran a hand across his chin and, feeling the hair that had started to grow back since his last shave made him wonder if he was getting too old to be so squeamish about sex.

"I think I need some air, could you keep an eye on Harry? Make sure he doesn't say anything he'll regret in the morning?"

"Are you alright?" Cedric asked, putting a hand on Seamus' shoulder.

Seamus flinched at the touch and gave his head a quick shake in an attempt to clear it. For the most part he felt like he'd gotten over a lot of his issues relating to his sexuality but every so often things caught him off guard, reminding him not only that he wasn't entirely comfortable with it, but also that currently there were four people in the world who knew about that part of him. One was his boyfriend, one was Cedric who didn't seem to be all that understanding about it and the other two were Harry's best friends. He wasn't sure he could really go to any of them with questions he might have about it all.

It made him feel very alone.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Seamus lied unconvincingly, he'd never been as good at lying as Harry, fortunately Cedric had had too much to drink to notice. Seamus stood, his head swimming as he made towards the door.

There was a loud bang behind him and he turned to see Harry on the floor tangled in a chair.

"Fuck's sake Harry. How much have you had to drink?"

Harry raised a hand and Seamus wasn't sure if it meant he'd had five drinks or if it was just a wave. Either way it was clear that Harry'd had a lot more than Seamus realised since they'd come out of the bathroom.

Davies helped Harry to his feet and by the time Seamus reached him he was leaning against a table, looking dazed.

"I think you might be done for the night."

"'s still light out." Harry protested.

"I think he might be right, mate." One of the twins said, trying to steer Harry towards Seamus. "Go sleep it off, don't forget we've got training tomorrow."

Seamus raised both eyebrows at Harry's guards and gave a small shrug as neither met his eyes. "I guess I'm not getting drunk then. Come on Potter, I'll go back with you."

Harry let out a long, drawn out snorting laugh and staggered over to Seamus, using Seamus' shoulder and a nearby chair to prop himself up. "Potter? You're so funny Seamus, you don't call me Potter."

Seamus pulled a face and widened his eyes at the twin who'd pushed Harry in his direction. "How much has he had to drink?"

Fred, or George shrugged. "A lot."

"Yeah, no shit." Seamus couldn't help but be a little bit annoyed with the older boys on the team. It was possibly a little bit irrational, he didn't have any problem with the fact that Harry had chosen to go out drinking with his friends, he just felt like someone should have been keeping an eye on him. They all clearly had much more experience with drinking than Harry and it seemed irresponsible that they'd all just leave Harry to it on his first time out. Obviously he'd try to match them drink for drink.

"Right, well. See you later then." Seamus said, unable to keep his annoyance out of his voice as he put a hand on Harry's shoulder and steered him towards the door.

They had just passed the Three Broomsticks on their way out of the village when Harry stumbled and let go of Seamus' shoulder which he'd been using to steady himself. He groaned and said, "I think I'm gonna-" before reeling to one side and throwing up violently against the wall of a building.

"Um," Seamus patted him awkwardly on the head, not sure how non-boyfriends were supposed to comfort their friends in this kind of situation. He wished he'd got Ron to come back with them, he'd have known straight away what to do. "There there, mate. Get it all up." He turned, still patting Harry on the head and looked uncertainly to the guards who were watching dispassionately from a few steps behind. "Is this normal? He's not gonna like… keel over is he?"

The man shook his head, a combination of disgust and pity on his face. "He'll be fine."

Harry put a hand against the wall to steady himself as he sucked in a deep breath as he wrapped his other arm around his stomach. His eyes had started to water and his glasses were hanging from his ears as he kept his head down.

Gently, Seamus took Harry's glasses from his face and tucked them into his pocket, murmuring comforting words to him as he patted him on his shoulder. More than anything he wished he didn't have to pretend that they were only friends and that he could offer Harry more comfort. Maybe if the guards hadn't been there he'd have risked a hug or rubbed Harry back, but he was all too aware that they'd been sent by the Minister for Magic to watch Harry. Anything he did would be reported back to the Minister.

The sun had started to go down, not enough so that Seamus was spared seeing every detail of what Harry had just thrown up, but enough for the opening of the door to the Three Broomsticks to be made obvious by the light spilling out of the pub onto the street outside.

Harry heaved again and Seamus wished Harry could have just managed to get a little bit further up the street before being sick, they were so clearly visible from door of the pub. Sure enough Seamus heard someone say Harry's name followed by more mutterings and then the unmistakable click of a camera shutter.

Seamus swore and turned, three men seemed to have exited the pub, he didn't recognise the man with the camera but he'd seen the other two at various points during the past year with some of the journalists reporting on the Quidditch tournament.

"Are you allowed to confiscate his camera?" Seamus asked, still keeping one hand on Harry's shoulder as he turned to the guards, who hadn't moved at all from where they'd been standing when Seamus last spoke to them.

"Sorry, we're just babysitters."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Seamus was starting to feel more than just a little bit cross now. He was cross that Harry's friends had let him get so drunk, he was cross that he had to pretend he was just Harry's friend when all he wanted to do was comfort him, he was cross that a stupid journalist thought it was okay to take pictures of Harry whilst he was suffering and he was cross that the guards the ministry sent were happy to just stand there and let it all happen. "His parents will kill him if they see that picture in the prophet. What's the point in you even being here? You've literally done nothing all night. What's the Minister going to say when he finds out you just let all this happen?"

The guards said nothing, watching as the man took three more pictures of Harry before the trio from the pub set off down the village towards the houses. Once they were out of hearing distance the female guard said. "The ministry has no control over the media. If the Minister had seen fit to assign an auror guard Mr. Potter then perhaps they may have had the authority to erase the film, unfortunately we do not. We are here to watch Mr. Potter whilst he is in the village and apparate him to a designated safe spot should we feel his life is in danger. The Minister is interested only in Mr. Potter's safety, nothing else."

"Yeah, whatever. The fucking Minister doesn't care about Harry's safety, he just wants everyone to think he's got 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' on side. Makes everyone think he's got control over the You-Know-Who situation when in reality he's just as afraid as everyone else."

The guards looked stunned and Seamus turned back to Harry, still cross but just a little bit satisfied. The argument wasn't his, Hermione had said it back when the Minister had told Harry he'd be required to have a guard, but it was still satisfying to say it to someone from the ministry.

"Were you just defending my honour?" Harry asked in a choked whisper as he propped himself upright.

"I wouldn't say that. Anyway, I'm not sure you've got much honour left to defend, you've just puked your guts up in the middle of the street in front of a bunch of journalists."

"Are you mad at me?" Harry looked up at him and his eyes were wet, Seamus wasn't sure wether it was from being sick or if he was upset.

"Look, let's just get you back to the castle before something else happens." Seamus took out his wand and cleaned Harry's vomit from the wall of the building.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with this."

Seamus smiled tiredly and tousled Harry's hair in what he hoped looked like a platonically friendly gesture. This certainly wasn't how he'd hoped his night would go. "You don't have to apologise to me, it's what I'm here for."